The Grey Witch
by mayankbh
Summary: What if Morrigan was the new Warden recruit? An AU take on Dragon Age : Origins. Morrigan/Alistair, cause I like it that way. Constructive criticism appreciated!
1. Taint

**The Grey Witch  
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Morrigan sighed. Tevinter ruins, despite the knowledge and power they promised, were dusty. And she hated getting dust on her favourite robes. To make matters worse, the ruins were infested with darkspawn and spiders. Darkspawn were not a problem, but spiders were just so _messy_ to kill, what with their bodily fluids spilling around. What was Flemeth thinking, sending her into such _dirty_ places, searching for tomes that may not even exist? She knew better than to question her mother, however.

Another giant spider dropped from the ceiling, and she blasted it with a fireball. Ah, the smell of burning spider flesh. She walked along a narrow corridor before reaching some sort of ritual chamber. A mirror stood on the floor, yet it was no ordinary mirror. She could sense powerful magic emanating from it. All her instincts told her to back away, never to return, yet something _invited _her to inspect it. She gazed into the depths of the mirror, seeing visions of a city. Her mind screamed warnings as she extended her hands to touch the liquid depths of the mirror.

Ripples spread from the point where her fingers came in contact with it. And then she could hear whispers, a hint of a song, the yearning to meet the source, to bow before a power greater than any she could imagine. A wave of magic erupted from the mirror, and everything went black.

Half-blind, crippled, her mind ravaged by the song, she somehow crawled out of the ruins. Phasing in and out of consciousness, she saw figures; a bearded, middle aged man, and a young blonde male. The elder one pulled a potion out of his pockets. Tipping it to her lips, he said "Drink it. Rest." She was no longer in control of her actions, and despite her suspicions, she drank the entire potion in a single gulp. She could no longer hear the song, and that filled her with rage, which was quickly replaced with a sudden lethargy. She closed her eyes, and let sleep take her.

Dreams. To humans, they were mere illusions, promises of things that could never be, nightmares of creatures that could never harm them. To mages, they were much more, they gave them visions of the Fade. However, something was different this time. A huge dragon stood on a far away cliff. It would normally have been a beautiful sight, a magnificent high dragon, yet there was something wrong, it seemed tainted, corrupted, a creature of beauty twisted and driven towards insanity. And it called to her.

"_Join me" _it whispered. And then she woke up.

**Later**

"Ah, you're finally awake" she heard, as she opened her eyes. The middle aged man stood before her, his eyes filled with concern.

"Wh-what happened? Where am I?" she asked.

"We are at the fortress of Ostagar. As for what happened, I am not sure. We found you crawling out of the Tevinter ruins in the Wilds."

"There was strange mirror, I touched it. And then there was a…song."

"It is as I feared. This was no ordinary mirror, as you guessed. It seems to somehow gained the ability to transmit the taint."

"Th-the taint? Darkspawn? Am I to turn into a ghoul now?" she whispered.

"Ah, so you know about the darkspawn. You will most likely turn into a ghoul, perhaps a matter of weeks, months, nobody can tell. However, there is another way."

"I have no intention of turning into a fiend. Tell me what I must do"

"Join the Grey Wardens, and you shall gain immunity to the taint. There is a Blight upon Ferelden, and we need Wardens of your caliber. You are a mage, are you not?"

"Indeed I am. Very well, I see no other choice. I shall become a Grey Warden. Perhaps I shall get to see the world outside the Wilds. So you wish for me to collect a vial of darkspawn blood?"

"You mu- wait! How do you know of the Joining ritual?"

"I know many things, and as to how, they are none of your business." She snapped.

"…very well. I only ask that you do not inform others of this. It would only serve to cause great concern to potential recruits."

"As you say, Warden."

"Please, call me Duncan. We Wardens are family, joined by the taint." He laughed.

"Very well, Duncan. Should I make preparations to leave for the Wilds?"

"Not so fast. Search the camp for a Grey Warden named Alistair, and come back to me with him. I wish to speak to all the recruits together. You might remember him, he is the young blonde who was with me when we found you."

"Ah. Most interesting. I have always had a thing for blondes" she said, and licked her lips in anticipation.

"I would like to ask you to refrain from any sexual contact with fellow Wardens as well. It would only serve to destabilize us"

"Oh, very well. I shall seek out this Alistair of yours."

**Ten minutes later**

"You know one good thing about the Blight? It brings us all together" said Alistair.

"You are rather strange, aren't you?" she said condescendingly.

"So I've heard. You're the new recruit aren't you? I'm glad you survived, we need mages, even if they are _apostates_" he spat the last word out.

"Ah, you harbour hatred for apostates? Pray, tell, are you by any chance a templar?"

"Trained as one, never took my vows though."

"Ah, perhaps you won't be as lyrium-addled as the rest of your kind. Only time will tell, I suppose."

"Oh, you insulted my intelligence. That really hurts my manly feelings, you know?"

She sighed. "Do you really have to come with me?"

He grinned "Ah, you're not getting away from me so easily. I'll be coming with you for the Joining."

She rubbed her eyes. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note :<strong> So what do you guys think? I just thought this was an interesting AU concept of the Origins story. I don't think it's been done before, but if it resembles somebody else's story, it's not intentional.


	2. The Wilds

**The Grey Witch**

The Korcari Wilds. Some believed it to be haunted by the souls of long deceased Tevinter generals. Others whispered tales of the barbaric Chasind folk, who would descend upon unlucky travellers, picking them apart, like a vulture would a corpse. But everyone agreed about the Witches of the Wilds, a clan of apostates that terrorized all. And one of them was now a fellow Warden. Things could be worse, he reminded himself. She could suddenly decide to turn them all into toads. Except probably Duncan.

Focus, focus, he reminded himself. They had not yet come across any darkspawn, only a large pack of wolves, which they had dealt with easily. Especially, what was her name? Ah, Morrigan. She had frozen most of them, which made killing them all the more easy.

They soon came across a solitary man, lying hapless on the ground, bleeding profusely from many wounds. "Help...me" he whispered, attempting to pull himself off the ground, before collapsing at their feet.

"Kill him and put him out of his misery" said Morrigan.

"Are you insane? We can help him. Let me get bandages from my pack"

"'Tis a waste of time and supplies. This man will not be able to fight either way. Why burden ourselves?"

He glared at her. "Must you be so cold and calculating? Have you no compassion?" he snapped as he helped the injured party.

"Evidently, the Grey Wardens have lost much of their intelligence in the name of compassion. Help him if you must, however, you are, after all, you are the _senior _Warden here, are you not?"

"Damn right I am" he said.

The soldier was patched up, yet he seemed unable to say anything. He nodded at them, and stumbled towards Ostagar, mumbling about darkspawn taking out his entire patrol.

"Hear that? An entire patrol of seasoned soldiers, taken out by darkspawn!" moaned Ser Jory.

"If I did not know better, I would say that you were afraid, Jory" teased Morrigan.

"Afraid? Of course I am!" he shouted.

"'Tis evident from the urine dripping from your loins. And we have yet to come across darkspawn. What will you do then, I wonder?"

As luck would have it, they came upon a darkspawn patrol that very instant. Jory and Alistair ran up to take on the hurlocks, while Daveth sneaked behind the genlock archers and cut their throats. Morrigan would occasionally freeze a hurlock here, ignite a genlock there, and she seemed to genuinely enjoy it. "_Disturbing" _thought Alistair. "_She's a sadist _".

Once they had gathered the required three vials of darkspawn blood, they moved on to their second task, finding the treaties. Fighting through several more darkspawn patrols, Morrigan led them to the abandoned Grey Warden tower, where a solitary chest sat on the ground. As Alistair moved towards it to open it, she stopped him.

"'Tis no point, they are not there anymore."

"And you would know that…how? You removed them, didn't you? You're some kind of sneaky, witch thief!"

"How very eloquent. 'Twas not I who removed them."

"Then who was it? Tell me, before I have you in front of Duncan for treachery."

"'Twas my mother, in fact."

"You-your mother?"

"Yes, my mother. Did you assume that I merely spawned from a log?"

"That's an interesting thought, really. Given your _spindly_ appearance, it might just be true."

"I hate you _so _much."

"And you hid this information from us…why? It would have saved us a bit of a struggle" he grumbled.

She shrugged. "I wished to see how you warriors fought. 'Tis evident that _some_ of you cannot control your bladders, however" she said, rolling her eyes towards Jory.

"So, take us to your mother, then."

"Very well, follow me."

**Flemeth's hut**

"Morrigan, you have returned! Mother was so worried about you!" mocked Flemeth. "Yet there is something _different_ about you. The taint. Yes. How did you come to be tainted?"

"I came across some kind of mirror in the Tevinter ruins. I touched it, and the next thing I knew, I could hear this _song_."

"Foolish, foolish child. Have I not taught you enough about ancient magic? And the Grey Wardens saved you, it would seem. They inducted you too? I am not sure whether to be annoyed or honoured. Better than being a ghoul, I suppose" she cackled.

"Keep your opinions to yourself for now, mother. We seek the treaties you had found, and protected"

Alistair, who had been quietly listening throughout this entire exchange, suddenly started "You, you protected them? But why?"

Flemeth ignored him, and entered her hut. She returned with the required treaties. "Here. Take them. Tell your leaders that the Blight is a bigger threat than they think."

As they were leaving, Flemeth suddenly called out "Morrigan, a moment, if you will?"

Morrigan walked back to her mother, and as she listened to her, Alistair felt uneasy. Something was going on, something big. Perhaps he should discuss it with Duncan.

As she was returning, Alistair found himself staring at her impressive assets. _"Maker, what am I doing?" _he chided himself.

"Have a care where your eyes linger, Alistair" she chastised him, secretly satisfied that she had gotten to him.

"It's not what you think" he tried to come up with some excuse.

"Really?"

"It's just, your _nose. _It resembles your mother's.

"I hate you _so _much" she replied, as they walked back towards the fortress of Ostagar.

**That night**

"You have all sacrificed much to become Grey Wardens, by your own free will, or due to certain circumstances. It is time for your final test. Daveth, if you would drink from the goblet?"

Daveth gave a silent nod, and drank. Suddenly, he jerked, only the whites of his eyes visible, and Morrigan knew that he was dead.

"I am so sorry, Daveth. Jory, if you will..?" said Duncan.

"N-No! Nobody told me you could _die!._ I have a wife, and a child on the way. I refuse!" he stammered.

"We have all sacrificed much, Jory. Drink, or I will be forced to kill you" said Duncan calmly, his hand at his dagger.

"No, I won't let you!" shouted Jory, reaching for his sword. He did not make it, Duncan leapt forward, his dagger directly entering his heart. She saw the light in his eyes go out. And then Duncan turned towards her, gesturing towards the goblet.

"I suppose I do not have much of a choice" she said, drinking.

And then it began. She could feel herself burning up from the inside, yet her skin felt as cold as ice. The song had returned, albeit in a more suppressed manner. The dragon from her dreams turned towards her. It gave a mighty roar, and lunged.

Everything went black.


End file.
